MEDICAL EVIDENCE – THE FUTURE

15 May 2013

Premex Services Managing Director
Donald Fowler received a warm response from delegates at the
Personal Injury Claims Fraud Conference. In this issue PremExtra
recaps some of his key messages about the role of medical evidence
now and in the future.

Premex has been extremely active
over recent months and years in the process of personal injury
reform, providing information, data and evidence to inquiries,
committees and government departments. At last month's MASS Fraud
conference in Manchester, Donald Fowler, managing director at
Premex Services took the opportunity to speak with industry
professionals about the continued importance of medical evidence in
fighting against fraud, offering clear explanations and suggestions
for areas of potential reform for the benefit of all
concerned.

"I was delighted to be invited to
speak at the conference because we all know that the behaviour and
opinions of small pockets of rogue experts and organisations are
being used to suggest that the current medical evidence process is
fundamentally flawed, when in fact that is far from the truth" says
Donald. "Medical examinations are vital to the personal injury
process as they represent one of the only times at which claimants
are dealt with face to face. Further, the face to face
examination plays an exceedingly important role in the fight
against fraud as it is a simple fact that is it harder for someone
intent on fraud to mislead someone (a Doctor) face to face, than on
paper or even over the telephone."

Donald highlighted a number of
suggested areas of reform which, for a variety of reasons, are
unlikely to work but also highlighted a number of clear areas of
evolutionary reform that, together, could result in a cultural
shift in the behaviour and thought process of claimants, Doctors
and MROs alike. "I was very keen to emphasise that there are
a number of areas around the current medical evidence process that
could be reformed with relative ease for the benefit of all
stakeholders. Accreditation of Doctors and MROs, examination
of connected party relationships and arrangements between Doctors
and their instructing parties, and the introduction of sanctions
for experts and organisations that fall short will all ensure we
have a more robust process and give confidence in the system.
There is no need for the industry to start again from
scratch."

By way of example, Donald pointed
to the incorrect perception amongst critics that doctors, in
general, provide extended prognoses for minor injuries in the
majority of cases. "As the largest independent provider of medical
evidence in the UK, our data completely contradicts this with only
6% of whiplash type cases having prognosis periods of more than 12
months."

Having already introduced the Certificate
of Medical Reporting (CertMR), and with a majority of GP
reports now being produced by CertMR accredited Doctors, Donald
explained that medical agencies are already demonstrating their
value to the market as providers of enhanced accreditation and
training for experts.

"Without doubt, professional
medical evidence is the most relevant and appropriate tool to
provide an independent assessment of claimant personal injury. At
Premex we are glad to be playing a key role in maintaining a
quality service and producing high quality, independent evidence
and we're looking forward to helping the industry shape and
accommodate this next evolution."